Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives $137.58 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.00.

A number of research firms have commented on PAYX. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Monument Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,714 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,881 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Emerald Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,391 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Down 6.7 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $143.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. Paychex has a twelve month low of $115.40 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $148.88 and its 200 day moving average is $143.91.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.